Movie Night
by Golem XIV
Summary: One-shot. A Halloween story: Control Freak, a Wicked Scary sequel and the Titans. 'Nuff said.


**Author's Note:** Control Freak's name mentioned in this story – Eugene – is the brainchild of Foamsatmouth and used with his permission. Thanks!

 **Disclaimer:** In a flash of horror I realized I don't own the Teen Titans.

-=oOo=-

"That was… disturbing," Robin managed to croak out as the credits finally began rolling across the screen. Starfire shivered and buried herself deeper into his embrace, still refusing to look at the TV. "Has it reached the ending?" she whimpered softly. He stroked her hair and mumbled comforting nothings at her until she stopped trembling.

Cyborg shook off the jitters that still ran through his circuits. "Awesome movie!" he grinned, his arm thrown lightly over Sarah's shoulder. "Scary enough for you, hon?"

"I suppose so," Sarah nodded, then shrugged. "But I'm a bit jaded. You should try to look after a couple of dozen highly energetic kids for a few days. That'll teach you the _real_ meaning of 'scary'."

Cyborg laughed, then turned to the third couple snuggling on the couch. "How 'bout y'all, little sis?"

"It was as scary as a good _Wicked Scary_ sequel is supposed to be." Raven's face was invisible and her voice just a bit muffled; what wasn't covered by the hood was pressed into Beast Boy's chest.

"So, you _were_ scared?" Beast Boy waggled his eyebrows at her.

She burrowed deeper into his arms and hid a smile. "No." She felt him tense and almost giggled.

"Um… Rae… I'd rather not go through all _that_ again," he complained. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am," she chuckled, then lifted her head to whisper in his ear. "I wasn't scared because I had my _big, strong man_ to protect me."

Her small smile widened as she felt the reaction to her words uncoil in him. Her lips touched his ear again and her tongue flickered briefly over it, making him shiver.

"And now I need him to carry me into our room, and make passionate love to me," she breathed softly so the others couldn't hear, then gently nipped him. The ear twitched and a deep, low rumble came from his chest. Again she smothered a giggle.

Garfield noticed his claws were out and retracted them. It may have been a defensive reaction to the frightening movie, but he was certain it was because of something else. Damn that woman and the power she held over him!

Suddenly he grinned. _Wait, why am I complaining?_

"It's, uh, late, dudes," he cleared his throat. "I think we'll be going nighty-night!"

Robin just nodded, too preoccupied calming his girlfriend to take notice, but Cyborg's face split in a leer. He was just about to deliver a naughty comment when Sarah's elbow slammed into his side with an audible _bong_. He rolled his eye and closed his mouth.

Just as everyone was getting ready to get up and call it a night the screen filled with loud static for a second, drawing their attention. The hissing interference cleared and quieted, revealing the pudgy face of one of their most annoying adversaries.

"Greetings, Titans!" he squealed in his over-excited voice. "It is I, your greatest nemesis! Your worst nightmare! Your –"

"Shut up and go away, Eugene!" Raven growled, disentangling herself from Beast Boy's arms. "You are ruining our movie night!"

Irritation flashed over Control Freak's flabby features, only to be replaced by a malicious grin. "That's no way to spend Halloween, Raven!" he cackled. "This is a night of _terror!_ "

"Is that why you're showing us your face?" she deadpanned. "I admit, the sight is terrifying enough!"

He scowled. "Go ahead and laugh! You won't be doing it for long after I unleash on you the _purest,_ most _absolute_ and _visceral_ horror you've ever –"

"Wow, you've learned some big words!" Raven cut him off, sneering. "At this rate you'll catch up with Garfield in just a few years!"

Her boyfriend laughed at the sight of the crimson rage that contorted Control Freak's features. "Owww, that hadda hurt –" Suddenly he turned to Raven and frowned. "Hey!"

" _Enough!_ " the overweight villain-wannabe screamed from the screen. "You've brought this on yourselves!"

He lifted his remote and pointed it at them while clicking furiously on a button. The three couples were enveloped in a swirling haze of static for a few seconds and vanished.

-=oOo=-

They were still in the Ops room. Everything looked familiar, except that the power was out. The large TV screen was off and all the indicator lights, consoles and readouts on the walls were dark. Cyborg's flashlight popped out of his shoulder and played around the murky room.

"Nothing seems to have changed," the half-metal youth mumbled. "He only cut the power."

Beast Boy' nose twitched nervously. "Nah. Something's wrong. This is not our Ops room!"

Robin sprang up and went over to one of the consoles. "Everything looks normal," he mused. "Besides the fact that there is no power, I can't see any difference."

"It _smells_ wrong, dude!" Beast Boy growled. "The Ops room – _our_ Ops room – is impregnated with our essences. This one…" he pointedly sniffed the air again. "We've never been here before."

"So the fat nerd made the dirty socks you lost between the couch cushions vanish," Cyborg laughed. "That's not a bad deal if y'all ask me!"

"Garfield's on the right track," Raven's voice intruded. "I can sense it, too. It looks like we've been transported to another reality."

Robin examined carefully one of the many consoles in the room, then lifted its cover. "There's nothing here. These are… these are props!"

"So we're in a movie?" Beast Boy scratched the back of his head. Robin nodded. "Not really surprising, considering who's responsible."

"Could be _The Jungle Book,_ " Cyborg flashed a sly grin at Garfield. "'Cept that Mowgli wasn't green!" The changeling snorted and waved a disgusted hand, refusing to take the bait.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Cyborg!" Robin scolded the half-robotic youth, then turned to Raven. "Can you get us out of here?"

She nodded. "I'll have to meditate and let my soul-self out to search for our original reality. Once I find it I can just teleport all of us back."

"How long will it take you?"

She shrugged. "It's our reality. I remember it well. Fifteen minutes, I suppose?"

"Good!" the green morpher growled. "Then we find that sweaty tub of lard and we –"

He was cut off by a gentle touch of Raven's fingers on his hand. It was just a brush; anyone else would've barely noticed it. He looked at her and saw her raising an eyebrow, the unspoken question crystal clear in his mind.

 _Is that really what you want to do when we get back?_

His face flushed and he ran a finger under his suddenly tight collar. She smirked, he frowned. At least Cyborg didn't notice.

 _Damn it, Raven! How do you do this to me?_ He seethed for a few moments, then grinned. _Oh, you're going to pay for this, my love. With interest._

Raven felt the love and the desire twist and weave inside him, aching to be released. She gave him a tiny, playful smile and turned away from him with a teasing flourish. He grinned toothily. _Another one on the tab._

She lowered herself on the floor, folded her legs in lotus position and began slowly chanting her mantra.

"I am supposing that all we have to do now is the waiting," Starfire shuffled closer, her voice trembling. She was completely out of her element and still under the influence of the movie. Robin's arm went around her reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Star. We'll be home as soon as Raven finds the way back."

"I'm gonna check if the fridge is only a prop, also!" Cyborg said and walked behind the counter. "Or if there's actually food in it."

"Dude!" Garfield called after him. "Not that I'm paranoid, but we should stay close together, never split up and protect Rae!"

Robin nodded. "Right. We don't know if Control Freak has any other surprise in store for us." He studied the changeling a bit more closely. "You've been doing some good thinking tonight, Gar. I'm glad you're letting your potential out."

"He just knows his way around," the big man-machine snorted, but returned quickly to join the others. "Chubby Cheeks and he have very similar minds, except that Evergreen's is a lot dirtier!" he grinned.

"At least he's being helpful," Sarah huffed in exasperation, poking the wide metal chest with an annoyed finger. "If you don't have anything worthwhile to say, don't speak!"

Cyborg harrumphed, folded his arms and looked to the side with a scowl. Sarah lifted an eyebrow, then gasped softly as she understood.

"Victor?" she called him quietly. "Are you…"

"I'm _not!_ " he grumbled, still looking away. She smiled and reached up to pull his head down.

"You're afraid. You're afraid for me," she giggled. "I love you."

His scowl melted and he allowed his concern out. "Just stay behind me if something happens," he muttered quietly. She gave him a dazzling smile and a nod.

-=oOo=-

Several minutes tiptoed away with nothing to show for but the drone of Raven's mantra. Cyborg stifled a yawn.

"I sure wish for somethin' to happen!" he griped. "I'm gettin' bored."

Beast Boy whirled on him. "Shut _up,_ Chrome Dome!" he hissed. "Can't you _feel_ it?"

"Feel what, Gar?" Robin replied, the intensity in his green friend's voice making him drop into a defensive stance and reach for his collapsible bo staff.

Gar didn't reply, but his lips drew back and his fangs gleamed dangerously in the gloom. His claws pushed against the inside of his gloves, threatening to rip through the fabric. The Titans closed into a semicircle around the meditating sorceress, facing outward, their weapons and powers ready.

The tension was almost palpable. Only the soft drone of Raven's mantra and the quiet, deadly growl coming from the shapeshifter's throat broke the utter stillness. Starfire whimpered.

Robin turned to his girlfriend, his arm rising to offer her safety and comfort, when her green eyes widened and she shrieked.

All heads turned to her. One of her hands was covering her mouth while the other pointed shakily at…

Sarah's cry rang out, more surprised than afraid, before it was quickly smothered into a gurgle. Again everyone whirled after the sound and froze in shock for a split second. A nest of twirling, braiding tentacles has coiled itself around the blonde, covering her mouth and stifling her scream. Her eyes were opened wide and terror was quickly replacing the surprise in them as the tentacles dragged her away swiftly and effortlessly.

" _SARAH!_ " Cyborg shouted and sprang after her, his powerful metallic limbs clawing at the rubbery flesh of the tentacles, trying to tear them loose. "Dude, _no!_ " Garfield cried a warning but it was too late. More tentacles appeared and wrapped around the metal man, pulling him towards the wall together with his girlfriend. Robin transformed his birdarangs into a sword and slashed at the writhing mass; Garfield ripped at them with bear claws. But it was all in vain. The enmeshed, immobilized couple was absorbed into the wall and vanished, together with the horror that took them.

The two boys quickly retreated towards their girlfriends. Starfire was sobbing, her fists clenched while she tried to call up starbolt energy to her hands. But Fear was drowning out Righteous Fury and she could only create a small, barely glowing nimbus of green.

"This damn thing knows what it's doing," Robin hissed. Garfield nodded. The monster went for their weakest friend and used her to separate and subdue one of them. Now they were weakened as a group and their fear and concern were mounting.

"Star is next, you know!" Gar warned Robin quietly. The Boy Wonder remained silent but the grip on his sword tightened and his jaw muscles knotted. "Let it come," he finally replied in a hoarse whisper, then turned to the Tamaranean, his face and his voice softening. "Kory…"

The sound of his voice startled her out of the panic that was threatening to engulf her. Her small brows came together and her lips pressed into a resolute line. "My apologies," she said firmly while her gaze explored the dark room. "I shall not allow the fear to conquer me again. I am a warrior princess of Tamaran, and anything or anyone that tries to harm my friends shall feel the full extent of my wrath!"

Robin stared at her, for a moment lost in the feelings that swamped him. God, she was beautiful… Her eyes glowed with a dangerous emerald blaze and her fists were encased in crackling green energy, aching to be let loose on anything unfortunate enough to challenge her.

A whirlwind of black coils exploded under Starfire's feet and she was pulled down through the floor in a split second. The Boy Wonder jumped towards her but collided in mid-leap with a green tiger and they were both sent asprawl. " _Starfire!_ " he shouted in anguish and scuttled on all fours towards the place she disappeared, his hands clawing at the floor desperately.

He shot to his feet and strode towards the main entrance. "Keep Raven safe!" he barked at the changeling over his shoulder, the eyes behind the mask hard and cold as ice. He whirled, his leg lashing out in a vicious kick at the hallway door to crumple it, tear it out of its rails and make it fall bent and twisted on the floor. Without pausing he stepped over the broken remains of the door and advanced into the dark hallway beyond.

"Dammit, Dick, you're playing straight into its hand!" Garfield shouted after him. The leader of the Titans ignored him and was soon lost from sight around a bend in the hallway. Garfield's sensitive ears followed his footsteps until they were gone, too.

The green youth sighed and looked at his girlfriend meditating in peaceful obliviousness. "He's saving you for last," he muttered darkly. "Just like that time."

His eyes lit up with a feral gleam and his face snarled. "And he's gonna have to go through me before he can touch a single hair on your head!"

Garfield straightened up and his stance became relaxed. He shook his arms and rotated his head, releasing the tension in the neck muscles. His arms and legs bulged, his chest expanded and his head grew. His uniform began splitting at the seams.

"Let's get this done and over with, you bastard!" he threw the challenge to the darkness. "Show me what you've got!"

His voice became guttural and his words incomprehensible, the snout that tried to form them not made for vocal communication. But the savage snarl and the killer teeth it revealed were sending a clear message.

The Beast roared his scorn and defiance, then settled to wait. Only the eager twitching of razor-sharp claws and the alert movements of the pointed ears betrayed his burning, animalistic desire to face and kill his opponent.

It formed from the darkness abruptly, knowing Fear will not avail it now. Its multitude of mouths slavered, the teeth gnashing, the tentacles swaying like branches on a summer breeze. It made no sound, but the Beast sensed it immediately.

He charged his enemy like a green thunderbolt, his movements a blur. Tentacles lashed, teeth tore, claws ripped. The Beast was thrown against the wall with a bone-jarring thud, buckling the armored paneling, but he wasn't even slowed. Again he streaked after his hated rival, claws gouging out demonflesh and teeth going for whatever looked like the monster's throat.

A tentacle wrapped around his neck and squeezed. The Beast twisted his head furiously and clamped his jaws over the rubbery flesh, shearing through it. But another boneless limb slithered out of the stump and waved menacingly, looking to curl itself around the Beast's throat.

Again the teeth snapped in an ivory flash, and again a twisting, ropy remainder fell curling in a spiral on the floor. Claws slashed over the monster's body in a disemboweling sweep; a powerful hand snatched a brace of twisting appendages and tore them out; jaws closed beneath the creature's head and jerked back, ripping a large chunk of unearthly flesh and spraying black, stinking ichor all over the two combatants.

But gouged wounds closed and torn limbs regrew, and the fearful creature finally got hold of the Beast's leg. He was jerked up and slammed on the floor, then lifted again and bashed against the wall, the process repeated again and again and again until even the superhuman vitality and endurance of the Beast could not withstand it any longer. He ceased fighting and slumped into defeated unconsciousness. Tentacles wrapped him from massive head to clawed toe and the monster faded into the wall with its quarry.

-=oOo=-

Raven lifted her head and opened her eyes, then gasped. The significance of the empty room, broken furniture and streaks of black liquid liberally splashed on the floor and walls told her the entire story. She floated up, straightened her legs and took a tentative step forward.

The creature gathered itself from the darkness and gazed at her from red, burning, hungry eyes. Raven stumbled back in sudden fear. The monster's multiple mouths smiled and licked sharp, vicious teeth.

Raven retreated, her terror mounting. This was not like last time, the creature wasn't a creation of her repressed emotions, it was _alive_. And it craved fear as much as it thirsted for blood.

As she backpedaled, her feet snagged on something soft. She risked a glance down and her heart froze. It was Gar's torn uniform. For a moment she watched it, her body paralyzed while thousands of thoughts rushed through her mind. The monster floated closer.

She looked up. Her eyes were now their usual cool, emotionless violet. She pulled the hood down and waited, unafraid. A tentacle slithered closer and wrapped itself around her wrist, ready to pull her into the soul-destroying embrace of the twisted, demonic being.

The tentacle recoiled as if burned. The monster hissed and jerked back. Raven's eyes lit up with red hellfire and two burning red slits opened above her brows.

"Yes. Now you know who I am." Raven's voice descended into a terrifying growl that rumbled and grated and screeched until it felt like it could make the ears bleed. "Bow down to your mistress, _insect!_ Grovel before the Daughter of Trigon!"

The creature slumped, pushing its misshapen head into the floor in a gesture of abject submission. The glare from the demoness's four eyes burned holes in it.

"Where is my consort, you _worm?_ " her voice made the creature shiver in terror. "Where are my servants? What did you do to them?" The monster whined and curled its tentacles tighter around its head.

Raven's eyes blazed with frozen fire and her hand lifted. "Wretched maggot! If you have harmed them in any way, I will make you _wish_ for eternal torture at the hands of my father!"

The creature scuttled backwards, dragging its head still pressed to the floor. Raven advanced on it, her lips curling back from triangular, serrated, lethal teeth. "Bring them back, you worthless waste of demonflesh! Bring them back, or so Trigon help me –"

The creature's tentacles spread into the darkness and coiled back, each wrapped around an unconscious body. It laid them gently in a row before the demoness and whimpered.

The fire in her eyes subsided. "Good pet. I should reward you." A freezing flare lit up the four crimson slits for an instant. "The one that caused all this. Bring him here!"

Again the tentacles uncoiled and again they rolled back, this time swathed around a flabby figure that fought weakly. A scream of pure horror rent the air, interrupted only by the gasping intake of breath.

"Eugene," Raven addressed the newcomer in a voice that was as soft as it was filled with menace. Control Freak lost the hold he had over his bowels and his frightened shriek became an avalanche of panicked apologizing and self-recriminating babble.

Raven's nose wrinkled at the smell of sweat and worse. " _Silence!_ " she snarled, making the pudgy nerd shut right up and leaving him staring with bulging, terrified eyes at the sorceress.

"I don't take kindly to someone endangering my friends, Eugene!" Raven spoke quietly, but with a grim edge to her tone. "You will be taught a lesson."

She turned her attention to the monster. "Don't hurt him, my pet. But make sure his experience is… _memorable._ "

She released her soul-self, gathered the prone bodies of her friends under its wing and was gone. A series of ghastly chuckles bubbled up from the creature's many mouths.

Control Freak screamed.

-=oOo=-

Garfield opened his eyes and sighed. Yes, he was dead and he was in Heaven, there was no other way he could explain being cradled in the arms of an amethyst-eyed angel.

"My hero!" she murmured and bent closer to plant a small, warm kiss on his lips. The cobwebs in his mind began clearing.

"Rae?" he croaked, lost and confused more because he was mesmerized by those heartbreakingly beautiful eyes than from not feeling well. Actually, he was feeling fine. No pain, no tiredness… He was pretty sure it shouldn't be that way, but thinking came hard to him right now. Those eyes...

"Rae, what happened?" he finally managed to swallow, wet his throat and pull himself together enough to ask. She smiled, and it was like the sun shining behind a cloud.

"Control Freak sent us to the _Wicked Scary_ universe," she murmured in his ear while nuzzling it. "You transformed into the Beast, wiped the floor with the monster and saved me. You saved all of us!"

"I did?" Gar asked, still oddly confused. He looked around, noticing the smiling faces of his friends.

"Raven saw it all!" Robin told him excitedly. "She says she woke from her meditation just in time to see you beat the stuffing out of the creature!"

A rush of tingling elation went through the changeling. "Yeah," he said a bit unsure if himself, but then he grinned. "Yeah, of course I did! I showed that son of a –"

"– And now you need to rest," Raven interrupted him with a finger to his lips. "It's late, and tomorrow is a new day!"

Still a bit bewildered, Beast Boy nodded and allowed himself to be led by her small hand. As the Ops room door slid closed behind them Raven leaned into him, tilted her head up and brought her lips close to his ear.

"I hope the Beast didn't go to sleep," she crooned in a meaningful whisper. "I'd like to have a little fun with him tonight."

Garfield choked, stumbled and spluttered, looking in disbelief at his girlfriend. Her tiny smile was crooked and her gaze was deep. A wide, predatory grin split his face in two.

"I'm sure he'll love to come out to play," he growled, his own eyes darkening. "You just have to ask him nicely." With a quick move he scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her small, surprised cry. She nestled her head gently against his chest, but her nails bit deep into his flesh.

A nagging memory came over him as he laid her on their bed. He pulled back, brushing away her irritated frown with a grin and a caressing gesture.

"Just one thing I don't understand. What happened to Control Freak in the end?"

A small, mischievous smile tugged a corner of Raven's mouth up. "Oh, I'm certain he's having an _unforgettable_ Halloween!"


End file.
